My Mona Lisa
by Son Goshen
Summary: Oneshot, Gh/Vi. Videl always knew her next door neighbor Gohan was a fabulous artist, but she didn't realize just how good he was at it until the grand unveiling of the final masterpiece by one of the best painters. Long hidden feelings have being released at last.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z. I wished.**

* * *

Videl pulled her black hair into the usual two messy ponytails, and headed out her small apartment to the one downstairs, where a neighbor lived. To be specific, her colleague, Gohan.

She had known him since they were in high school, but never particularly took notice in him. The quiet and studious male often sat in the corner of the classroom, taking meticulous notes but never speaking until asked upon. He didn't socialize that much, either, and blended in very well with the rest of the surroundings, blatantly ignoring the first two strange weeks when he had first came to Orange Star High. Soon, he was just another one of the kids Videl looked right through.

The old memories resurfaced when she had stumbled upon him years later when renting out a new apartment after subsequently moving out of her dad's. She was definitely surprised and slightly ashamed when she didn't recognize him immediately. The two bonded together fairly quickly, and soon visits to his home became a daily thing in her schedule after work.

Gohan, she noted during her visits, was extremely good at art. His living room was often littered with canvases, paint brushes, paint, and all other tools for traditional media. The drawings he created were often shockingly realistic, with bold, vivid colors and themes that contrasted heavily against his mellow personality. Maybe this was his outlet.

Videl wasn't really one for art, not really, but her friendship with the male had given her a new interest in paintings. Often, though, his masterpieces reminded her of something else that she couldn't quite remember. It was just a vague memory, and all she could recall was some museum she went through a long time ago. Or maybe it wasn't a long time ago; it was just that she didn't pay attention.

She knocked twice on the door and cleared her throat. Within moments she heard the thumping sound of footsteps, and the door creaked open revealing a shirtless and sweating Gohan. He had a towel draped around his shoulders.

Videl felt her face heating up, and her heart began to beat irregularly. There was a fluttering sensation in her chest. "Working out?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at his appearance as she pushed down the feeling.

"I guess you could call that. Sorry," he apologized, stepping aside for Videl to come in. "I'll uh, go dress now." He sounded uncomfortable, as if he saw her slight blush. The raven haired male disappeared into his room and shut the door close behind him.

Videl sat down on an empty space on the couch, leaning back comfortably. She wondered what that feeling was just now. Embarrassment? Not quite… Sweeping her eyes across the room, she saw a large canvas with a cover draped over it. Paint tubes littered around, as with many brushes. How strange… she swore the object wasn't there last time. A hesitant hand reached over to tug the gray cover off, but her curiosity was won over. It wasn't polite to look at other people's things without their permission, everyone knew that.

A minute later, a hurriedly dressed Gohan emerged once more. He plopped down next to Videl and said, "How's it going?"

She shrugged and smiled. "Boss is just irritating as usual. I'm contemplating whether to quit and find another job or not, something that'd fit me more."

"Awwww…" Gohan pouted. It was a really adorable expression, really, and the strange fluttering sensation returned. "I hope you'll stay, since I'll be kind of lonely."

"I'll still stick around," Videl laughed. "Anyways, what are you painting over there that's covered?"

Gohan's face flushed a deep red for some reason. "Ahh, t-that is uhh, I mean…" he stammered, tripping over his words.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want," Videl said.

Gohan cleared his throat. "Well, let's just say I'm working on a masterpiece, and I'm not quite ready to show it to people yet, since…" he trailed off.

"Not even me?" Videl teased.

His face became an even deeper shade of red.

"Just joking."

Gohan let out a sigh of relief. "Okay. So um, how was your day?"

She noted that he changed the subject rather quickly, and wondered just what was under that cover.

* * *

A good month later, Videl still hadn't found out what it was, but she didn't feel like asking, since it seemed to be something very private. Once, she got lucky and caught a small glimpse of a detailed sketch of some sort of portrait. Maybe he was painting someone he really loved, like his mother?

One day, she got an email from Erasa inviting her to go to an art museum, who was apparently revealing some great piece of art. Specifically, it was by a famous artist whose name slipped her mind, and it was going to be his final masterpiece before he would officially quit.

There was definitely a fair amount of hype about it, since she often heard snatches of conversation about the topic from her co-workers. And of course, if something was so big it'd even attract her airheaded best friend, it had to be interesting.

_Fair Maiden_ was going to be the name of this artwork. Quite a curious name.

The day finally came around, and with an arm linked around Erasa's like young school girls, they handed their passes to one of the guards to enter the museum. The place was filled with people, all heading towards the center special exhibit, and the two followed the crowd.

Videl distinctively remembered coming here last time with the blonde several years ago, to look at some artwork from the same artist, whose name she still couldn't remember. She winced as one man bumped past her elbow sharply and didn't stop to apologize. They finally reached where the painting was, and she cursed her miserable height. She could barely see past the people's heads, and it just seemed to be that all the tall people were in front of her. Several minutes of fruitless effort to see over them, she finally gave up and wormed around the people, managing to get in front after much squeezing.

The sight shocked her. And that was still an understatement.

She had raven hair, perfectly combed into two pony tails tied with gold bands, a pair of luscious ruby lips, and sparkling blue eyes filled with emotion. Her skin was smooth and flawless, a soft peach color. She wore an expression that of mischief, as if the maiden was scheming something that the painter didn't know.

Without a doubt, it was Videl that the artist had painted. A beautified one, that is.

Immediately, she felt heat rise to her face and knew that she was blushing madly. How did the painter even know her, or how she looked like? And how did he capture her expression so perfectly? Her eyes drifted to a small plaque that carried the title and the artist.

_Fair Maiden,_ it said, and underneath in small print:

_Son Gohan_

Everything clicked together then.

Gohan. His familiar art style. That big, mysterious canvas.

Of course. She should've known from the beginning.

Videl turned around abruptly and roughly pushed past the admiring crowd, ignoring all the protests and gasps as she went.

"Videl, what-" Erasa began in a shocked tone, but the young woman didn't stop to reply and barreled onwards. The blonde tilted her head in confusion and turned back to the painting. She was able to see it now, thanks to the path her friend had made. Her mouth dropped open and she understood Videl's strange behavior. Oh…

Videl tossed a yellow capsule onto the road. It expanded with a small boom, smoke blowing out. The capsule formed into a small air car that she climbed in hurriedly. She fired up the engines and stomped on the accelerator.

The car took off. She didn't care if she was going past the speed limit as she maneuvered skillfully past cars, causing a few angry drivers to flip her off along with a couple of insults.

In a few minutes she had arrived at her apartment, and she rushed up the steps to the third floor where Gohan lived. She knocked on the door.

"Coming!" was the muffled voice as footsteps became steadily near until the door creaked open, revealing Gohan with a sunny smile as usual. However, the smile dropped when he noticed her angry and flushed expression. "What happened?" he asked concernedly.

She took a deep breath. "I saw that painting."

At the word painting, he blushed.

"What were you thinking?"

"Well uhhh…" he cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Ehhh… about that… what I mean is…"

Videl placed a hand on her hip. "Why didn't you tell me you were _the _famous Gohan?"

He looked away awkwardly. "Well I knew you were going to figure that out eventually…"

"That's no excuse," she replied hotly. "And why did you paint _me_ of all people? And I don't look that good."

He mumbled something that she couldn't hear nor understand.

"Speak up, will you?"

Gohan cleared his throat and said in a slightly louder voice. "Because you are that beautiful."

That wasn't an answer she had expected and it caught her off guard. A pink tint crept up to her face. "What?"

"You're really beautiful, Videl," he repeated again, this time looking into her eyes.

"I- what?"

"I only painted you the way I saw you as," he said, his voice sincere. "You're the prettiest girl I have ever met. Really."

A small part of her brain felt very flattered at the other's words. "The wha-" She broke off, unable to find any words.

"The thing is," Gohan continued, his own face becoming redder by the second. "I… actually really like you… Since in high school, I kind of watched you a lot during class. And that sounds really creepy doesn't it, like I'm some kind of stalker? But the thing is I always felt like you were really special and pretty and cool, but all the guys liked you and you never showed any interest in boyfriends. And you never paid any attention to me and I thought that you probably thought what everyone else did, that I was just another one of those nerds."

Videl guiltily agreed with his words. That was true.

"Well, when I met you again all these years later in work I was so happy, and I thought maybe you and I could-" he coughed, embarrassed. "And we even ended up becoming neighbors, and that was cool. Yeah we became close, but you always seemed to just think of me as a friend and I didn't want to do anything to make you back off."

That wasn't true. When she first laid her eyes on his final masterpiece, a strange buried emotion stirred and awakened fully. It was an emotion that was always underlying all others when she hung out with Gohan, and this painting had made her realize what it was.

Love.

Gohan continued to ramble, and Videl pressed a finger against his lips. "Shhh…" she said, smiling slightly. "I get it, you like me."

He nodded slightly.

She removed her finger. His eyes widened in surprise as she leaned forward and stood on her toes. Their lips touched.

Videl never kissed another boy before, so this felt strange for her. But she enjoyed the feeling of Gohan's soft lips on hers, and how they moved in synchronization. It was such a sweet and gentle kiss.

They finally pulled away from each other, slightly out of breath.

She grinned. "I love you, too."

* * *

**Aaaaand here I go, back into the DBZ fandom. Thanks to Kakarot Son for his amazing Gh/Vi fanfic **_**Come Fly With Me**_** that popped me back into this fandom. I got this idea for some reason when I was reading **_**Shall We Dance**_**, one of the greatest Gh/Vi fanfics out there. I don't think this idea hasn't being done before, so more original stuff for the fandom. **

**Hope you all enjoyed this, and I'd really appreciate it if you leave a review! :)**

**~Shen **


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